Gary Rydstrom

You may not recognize Gary Rydstrom's name or even recognize him if you saw his picture, but you've surely heard his work. Rydstrom is a sound designer for motion pictures and has contributed significantly to the art of cinema with his intricate and realistic explosions, crashes, hits, and stomps. Without talented craftsmen like Rydstrom, the modern blockbuster would be a very different kind of cinematic experience than we are used to. Rydstrom fell in love with movies at an early age, and after graduating from the USC film program, he was hired at Lucasfilm on the recommendation of his film professor. Most of his subsequent work has been for the company that filmmaker George Lucas built, and he has contributed to some of the most popular major motion pictures around, fine-tuning the aural experience that has become such an important aspect of science-fiction, action, and animated spectacles. His first work for the company was on "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in the early 1980s. He also worked as a foley artist--the guy who actually makes the sounds for the movies--on productions such as the action movie "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins" and the epic fantasy "Willow." Rydstrom's most celebrated work can be heard in his work for Steven Spielberg ("Jurassic Park," "Saving Private Ryan") and James Cameron ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "Titanic"), for which he won Oscars.